fitzpatrick



A. FITZPATRICK. LAND CLEARING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22. ms.

Patented Oct. 21,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. FITZPATRICK.

LAND CLEARING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22. 191a.

Patented Oct. 21, 1919.-

3 SHEETSSHEET 2- QQRQR w fllfllliffl A. FITZPATRICK. LAND CLEARING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22. 191B.

ALFRED FITZPATRICK, 0F TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

LAND-CLEARING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 21, 1919.

Application filed March 22, 1918. Seria1 No. 224,004.

it consists essentially of the following ar' rangement and construction of parts as hereinafter more particularly explained.

Figure 1, is a side elevation of the ma or portion of my machine with the end broken I away.

Fig. 2, is a side elevation of the rear por- Iigion of my machine. broken away from i 1.

Fig. 3, is a plan-view of the part shownin Fig. 1.

Fig. 4, 'is'a in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5, is an enlarged sectional plan view of the rooting mechanism.

Fig. 6, is a longitudinal section through the agitator.

Fig. 7, is a sectional detail.

In the drawings like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.

'1 indicates a main frame on which is supported a boiler 2 by which steam is generated for supplyin various engine cylinders which are carried by my device. 3 indicates a bracket, which forms 'part of the main frame. 6 indicates a casting which is connected to the bracket 3 by a king bolt 6*. 7 indicate arms swingably connected to the bracket 6 at each side thereof. Sindicate standards extending upwardly from the bracket 6 to above the level of the boiler 2. 9 indicate carrier wheels mounted upon a shaft 10. The free ends of the arms 7 are mounted upon the shaft '10.

11 indicates a conveyer which is formed in two parts 12 and 13. This conveyer may be of any suitable type and provided with a series of longitudinal endless chains, the opposing ends of the parts 12 and 13 being plan view of the part shown mounted upon a cross shaft 14 journaled in the standards 8, the rear end of the portion 13 being mounted upon the Wheels 14* which bear upon a cross board 15 carried by'the rear end of the machine, which rear end is in the form of a cab 16 from which the machine is operated.

17 indicates an agitator shaft journaled in lever arms 18 swung upon the shaft 10 intermediately of its length. The agitator 17 comprises a series of disk members 19.

It will be seen from Fig. 6 that four of the disks 19 are secured at each end of the shaft 17 to the outside of each arm 18. To the inside of each arm 18 are arranged similar disks 19. To the disks 19 are secured curved cutting teeth 24, which extend radially outwardly from each disk (see Figs. 1 and 3).

28 indicates a cross bar connecting the arms 7 and on which are mounted engines 26, 27, 28 and 29. These engines are suitably arranged and coupled so that the two outer engines 26 and 29 may be used for driving purposes alone or the whole series. may be used as desired. 4

I do not describe the means for producing this result as it is any of such which are commonly employed and it, therefore, forms no part of this present invention.

29 indicates ashaft mounted upon suitable brackets carried upon the arm 7 and on which are located sprocket gears 30, which sprocket gears are connected by chains 32 to gears 32 mounted upon the crank shaft of the engines. .33 indicate sprocket chains mounted at one end upon sprocket gears 34 .also secured to the shaft 29* and at the opposite end are mounted upon the roller 34* mounted in the side bars of the conveyer 12. I will now describe the means by which the agitator shaft is driven so as to revolve the knives 24 when in engagement with the earth to break up the surface of the land or when brought into engagement with the stems of small trees to cut into such stems and sever them from the roots. 100 indicates bevel gears which may be covered by a suitable dirt proof casing. 101 indicates an inclined shaft mounted in suitable bearings carried by the conveyor and carrying pinions 102 and 103. 104 indicates a shaft also mounted .in suitable bearings and carrying the gear pinion 47 gears 105 and 106. The gear 100 meshes with the gear 103 and the gear 105 with a bevel gear 107 carried by the. shaft 29*. The pinion 102 meshes with the gear 106. The agitator may, of course, be driven byany suitable means other than that described above. The height of the agitator shaft may be easily regulated by means of the arms 18 which are swung upon the shaft 10 as hereinbefore described, the inner end of such arm being provided with a handle and spring locking dog 35, which co-acts with a suitable quadrant 36, the bearings of the shafts 101 and 104 being adjustable to allow of this movement.

39 indicates a conveyer chain which is mounted at one end upon the roller 34* and at the opposite end upon a gear 40 carried by the shaft 14. The rear portion of the conveyer is formed by sprocket gears 41 mounted upon the shaft 14 and sprocket gears 42 mounted upon the shaft 43 located at the rear end of the conveyer and connected to the gear 41 by endless sprocket chains 44.

100 indicate rollers forming the lower part of the conveyer portion 12 and connected together by gears 101 driven from the gear 103 secured to the spindle of the roller 34*.

The agitator and conveyers are driven independently from the engines 26, 27, 28 and 29, the agitator having a high gear connection and the conveyers a low gear connection to the engines or by any other arrangement of gear connection found desirable.

45 indicates a shaft mounted upon the main frame and at each end of which is mounted a worm gear 46 and a pinion 47 48 indicates an engine mounted on each side bar 1 of the main frame. On the inside of the engine casing is pivoted a telescopic arm 47, which is supplied with steam from the boiler by any suitable means so as to extend the arm longitudinally outward to a greater or less extent as desired. I do not describe this arm in detail as it is a form which is commonly used in other devices and I, there= fore, do not lay claim to its construction.

102 indicate spacers carried by the arms 47 at one side of the machine and carrying rollers 103 bearing against the arms 47 at the other side of the machine.

The arm 47 is provided with a depending quadrant gear portion 4!) which meshes with 50 indicates a worm mounted upon the shaft 51 journaled in brackets 5l and 51 provided with a hand wheel 54 at its outer end. The worm 50 is in engagement with.the gear wheel 46. By turning the hand wheel the worm 50 and gear wheel 46 are turned so as to turn the pinion 47 and thereby raise or lower the arm 49, which arm is concentric with the center of swing of the telescopic arm 47. The casting 6 is also provided with outwardly extending axle arms 52 upon which are mounted traction wheels 53 of any suit able type.

54 indicates a traction tread of the caterpillar type, such tread being driven by suitable gears from the engine 48. The outer ends of the arms 47 are connected together by a chain 55, which is designed to be brought into engagement with a tree when the telescopic arm 47 is expanded to its full extent so as to tend to force the tree over away from my machine as the base of the tree is cut by the agitator knives 24.

For the purpose of raising the arms 7 in order to render the machine capable of easy transportation I have )rovided the vertical screw shaft 56, whicli extends at its bottom end through a turnable shaft 57 carried by the arms 7 and at its upper end through a bracket 58 carried by the standards S. The shaft 56 is, provided with a hand wheel 59* for the purpose of controlling the same.

W'hen the machine is driven forwardly the agitator knives are lowered into contact with the ground by means of the manually controlled arms 18thereby lowering the agitator and the free end of the conveyer to the required level. As the machine is driven forwardly the agitator knives break up the surface of the ground and when brought into contact with a tree cut through the base of the tree and as the knives cut through such base the tele copic arms 47 are expanded by steam pressure so as to carry the chain 55 into engagement with the upper portion of the tree and, therefore, tend to force the tree over as it is cut.

It will be understood that the knives 24 revolve in the direction of arrow as indicated in Fig. 1. Vhen the tree has been felled it lies substantially in longitudinal alinement with my machine and the knives 24 engage with the. butt end of the tree lifting it and thereby carrying it on to the conveyer chains 39*, which may be also provided with knives similar to the knives 24 so as to more readily engage the tree and draw it upward conveying it over the top of the machine to the rear end thereof thereby being out of the way of the machines travel.

In order to clear the ground of roots, which are left after the felling of the tree, I have provided the following mechanism.

The rear end of the side member 1 of the main frame 1 is provided with an extension 56 at the extreme end of which is journaled a shaft 57 58 indicate a series of triangular plates, which are in the form of a right angle triangle, the right angle extending rearwardly, the series of plates increasing in length from the outside to the center of the machine. The inclined edge of each plate is preferably serrated or saw toothed so as to more readily cut into the roots with which it is brought into engagement. 59 indicates a shaft, which is journaled in brackets 60 carried by the rearward extension 56* of the main frame, such shaft being driven by a suitable sprocket gear connected from the engine 61.

62 indicates a series of eccentrics mounted upon the shaft 59, the major radius of each eccentric extending in a different direction to the next adjacent eccentric. 69 indicates a pitman provided with an eccentric strap surrounding the corresponding eccentric and provided at its outer end with a jaw 70, which is swingably connected to the lower end7of the corresponding plate 58* by a in 1. p When it is desired toremove roots from the land the machine is driven rearwardly so that the points of the plates 58* are carried toward such roots. As they are carried in this direction the points or forwardly directed apices of the plates are swung up and down engaging the earth and cutting into the same and, when brought into engagement with the roots, tend to tear them out of the ground by means of the saw teeth formed on the upper inclined edge of each plate. At the rear of the machine is also shown an alternative means by which thestem of a tree may be forced over and which may work in conjunction with the rooting device comprising the plates 58 so that as the roots are loosened by such device the trunk or stem of the tree is forced over thereby uprooting the whole tree. This device comprises a pair of arms 73, such arms curving downwardly and being swingably connected to the inside of each extension 56 The upper ends of the arms 73 are provided with out-turned portions 74, which are connected together by a cross pin 75. 76 indicates an arm which is swung upon such pin, such arm being provided at its outer end with a V-portion 77 having a serrated inner face. The opposite end of the arm 76 is bifurcated, the members 78 and 79 thereof extending rearwardly into proximity to the cab 16, the extreme ends thereof being connected together by a cross bar 80, which forms a handle and by which the outer or V-shaped end 77 may be adjusted to the re quired height.

81 indicates a cylinder, which is secured at 82 and which operates a piston plunger 83. 84 indicates an arm which is secured at one end upon the cross pin 75 and at the opposite end to the outer end of the plston plunger 83.

Steam is conveyed to the cylinder 81 by any suitable means and is supplied thereto forcing the piston plunger 83 outwardly 'ing the cutting apparatus.

thereby tending to swing the arms 7 3 upward and thereby giving an upward leverage upon the arm 76 so as to give a lifting rearward movement to the trunk of a tree and thereby aiding the rooting device 58 to loosen the tree from the ground and throw it over so as to uproot it.

From this description it will be seen that I have devised a very simple mechanism wherebyland may be cleared of trees, which have very shallow growth, such as prevail in territories having clay soil where the roots never extend very deep under the earth.

hat I claim as my invention is.

1. In a land clearing machine, a driven carriage, a rotating agitator carried by the carriage and provided with knives designed to be carried into engagement with the tree trunk, and means carried by the carriage engaging the upper end of the tree for forcmg it over as it is cut at the base.

2. In a land clearing machine, a driven carriage, a rotating agitator carried by the carriage and provided with knives designed to be carried into engagement with the tree trunk, a pair of telescopic arms adapted to be forced outward longitudinally, and a cross chain connecting the outer ends of the arms together.

3. In a land clearing machine, a driven carriage, a rotating agitator carried by the carriage and provided with knives designed to be carried 1nto engagement with the tree, and means adjustable vertically and carried by the carriage for engaging the upper end of the tree for forcing it over to fell it as it is cut at the base by the knives of the rotating agitator.

4. In a land clearing machine, a driven carriage, arotating agitator carried by the carriage and provided with knives designed to be carried into engagement with the tree, means adjustable vertically and carried by the carriage for engaging the upper end of 1ucans adjustable vertically and carried by 1 0 the carriage for engaging the upper end of the tree for forcing it over to fell it as 1t is cut at the base by the knives of the rotating agitator, and means for vertlcally ad ust- 6. In a land clearing machine, a driven carriage, an agitator carrying. member mounted upon the carriage, a rotating agitator mounted in the carrying member and provided with knives designed to be carried into engagement with a tree, and means carried by the carriage for engaging the upper end of the tree for forcing it over to fell it as it is cut at the base by the knives of the rotating agitator.

7. In a land clearing machine, a driven carriage, a rotating agitator carried by the carriage and provided with knives designed to be carried into engagement with the tree, means adjustable vertically and carried by the carriage for engaging the upper end of the tree for forcing it over to fell it as it is cut at the base by the knives of the rotating agitator, and means for receiving and conveying the felled tree rearwardly over the cutting apparatus and adapted to form a support for the cutting apparatus.

8. In a land clearing machine, a driven carriage, a rotating agitator carried by the carriage and provided with knives designed to be carried into engagement with the tree, and means carried by the carriage for en gaging the upper end of the tree to force it over to fell it as it is cut at the base by the knives of the rotating agitator.

ALFRED FITZPATRICK.

lVitnesses M. EGAN.

R. MOFFAT. 

